They arrive at work most mornings utterly unaware of what the rest of the day will bring. Some of their time is spent on routine assignments from that day’s diary – court duty, interviewing visiting personalities, minor crime – but most of all they wait for the call that will alert them to the breaking news story, the big one that will lead the front page. They don’t exactly pray for disasters or major loss of life, but if it happens on their shift the most dedicated are first on their feet to start chasing ambulances and fire appliances. Their lives and professional peaks are vicariously shared with those experiencing extreme misfortune or overwhelming joy. It is a strange, parasitical – but intoxicating – existence.In the newsroom of The Evening Telegraph on the morning of Wednesday, 9 June 1965 there was little to become excited about. The international news coming in over the wires announced that President Lyndon Johnson was again being criticised for America’s policy on Vietnam.
